hi ruthie, gald your shop is doing well!! Definately references because you need to know you can trust them and I would steer clear of family and friends as employees because basically that can get messy. It is hard to say what you should pay, that all depends on your area, their experience etc. I would say minimum for a student, difficult to say for semi retired or maybe a mother working round her kids? A trial period is always a good idea, say a month or something and tell them you'll see how it goes and have a chat again in a month, cause remember she may not be happy or you may not be happy. Anyway i think im right in saying that your staff have to be with you for 2 years before they have many rights, i mean you can just let them go and say its not working out but after 2 years it gets a bit more complicated. Hope this helps